NEWLY-PROMOTED Macclesfield travelled to the Wirral to play last season’s runners-up Neston with three new players on show.

The visitors were put in on a green, firm wicket that was helping the seam bowlers.

Openers Khalid Sawas and Ben Morrison slowly got on top of the Neston attack, punishing loose bowling, with Sawas in particular playing some magnificent shots down the ground.

The score progressed nicely onto 60 off 18 overs before Morrison was given out, caught behind off his pad, prompting a difficult period as wickets fell regularly.

Pete Barron, debutant Rob Porter, Chris Buckley and Craig Melrose all fell for single-figure scores under pressure from good bowling from Finnegan, Clarke and spinner Stimson. As wickets fell around him, Aussie Nathan Allen started to build an innings. He showed fight as he got to grips with the bowling and the pace of the track but, at 108-6 off 45 overs, the hosts were in the stronger position.

Another debutant, James Hawley, joined Allen in a stand of 42 in five overs that set Macc up to gain valuable batting points, and setting Neston a competitive target of 172.

After tea, Craig Melrose and Ian Tait regularly beat the bat but Jack Smith and Ben Cooper batted well, scoring 46 off 15 overs. Hawley then got a thin edge found off Cooper for the first of keeper Paul Hughes’ five catches. Runs were again hard to come by once the first wicket fell and Hawley claimed three wickets for 13, Melrose with three for 38.

However, at 67-6 the visitors were well on top and a win was on the cards. Barney Cutbill took over from Hawley and, in nine overs, took four for 31 to clean up the tail, one through a fine catch from Tait at second slip, Neston collapsing to 111 all out, and Macc taking 22 points on their return to the Premier League after three years out.